Cardinal Tagle may have contracted COVID-19 at airport or plane — Bishop David

Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle might have contracted COVID-19 at the airport or in the airplane he boarded going to Manila, Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines acting president and Caloocan Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said.

In circular 20-61, David said Tagle tested negative in Rome on September 7 “precisely to be allowed to make the trip to Manila.”

“In all likelihood, he may have picked up COVID-19 right at the airport or in the airplane,” David said.

“He probably could not avoid being greeted by people, especially (overseas Filipino workers), who recognized him at the airport or inside the plane,” he added.

Tagle tested positive for COVID-19

He is asymptomatic and currently undergoing a 14-day quarantine.

David said Tagle returned to the Philippines from Rome for “a brief late summer break” and to visit his elderly parents in Imus, Cavite.

David also urged the faithful to pray for Tagle’s safety and speedy recovery.

Tagle, the former archbishop of Manila, is the Vatican's prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples.

Vatican News reported that the Holy See Press Office had confirmed that Tagle had tested positive for the virus after a swab test.

It said Tagle became the first head of a Vatican dicastery with COVID-19. — RSJ, GMA News